This was our 2nd cruise on Royal Caribbean, we have previously taken 5 cruises on Carnival. We got to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday, and stayed at the Hampton Inn in Plantation Saturday and Sunday nights. Excellent hotel, would definitely recommend anyone to stay there, they have a free shuttle from the airport and to Port Everglades, we used the airport shuttle, but we booked Activity Planners to get from the hotel to the port, because there were 6 of us.
Embarking was a breeze, never seems to be any wait with Royal Caribbean, got right on the ship and went to the Windjammer for lunch, which was great. We were able to get into our cabins, we also had 7036, around 12:45. I was surprised to see how big the cabin was, because comparing to square footage to Carnival balcony cabins, there really wasn't that much of a difference. We had plenty of storage place for 3 of us. We unpacked then went and walked around the ship until it was time to sail.
Dinner was casual dress the first night, and our waiter, Sebastian Szabo, and asst waiter, Evangelista, were an awesome team, they couldn't do enough for us and were extremely friendly. Our cabin steward, Manuel, was great, didn't see him much, but he was very efficient.